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Minnesota, 4 neighbors plan for wind power

(AP) - Minnesota has joined four
other states to try to develop a regional electric transmission
system that will foster increased wind energy development.

Other partners in the Upper Midwest Transmission Development
Initiative include Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The coalition of governors will study the costs of developing
more wind energy and delivering it on power lines. The states also
plan to propose some form of financing new transmission lines.

Lack of adequate power lines is a major impediment to wind
energy development in the region.

Wind on the Wires, a coalition of wind energy advocates,
applauded the five-state transmission initiative.

"Transmission capacity is the glass ceiling for renewable
energy development in the Midwest," said Beth Soholt, Wind on the
Wires director. "To have these governors and the state electricity
regulators proactively and cooperatively engaged with stake holders
in addressing the major barrier to unlocking the renewable energy
resources of this region could be groundbreaking."

The initiative will identify the region's wind energy resources
and the transmission infrastructure needed to develop them in the
most cost-effective manner.

State officials also will seek solutions to a number of current
barriers to additional transmission investment, such as how costs
of new power lines should be allocated.

Hans Detweiler of the American Wind Energy Association said the
five-state effort is a vital step.

"The Upper Midwest stands to gain enormous economic development
benefits from wind energy, based on the resource that is available
here, but it simply will not happen if transmission barriers are
not attacked head-on," he said.

The coalition will develop a plan to be submitted to the
Indiana-based Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, a
power-grid agency that oversees electrical transmission in the
region.

"The time is right for planning and coordination between these
states in the Midwest ISO," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "As
states in the region increase their use of wind energy, planning on
how best to locate wind farms and other renewable sources and build
the necessary transmission infrastructure to support them is
crucial."